Ten things that make me happy.
10. Lilly. Sometimes I just look at her and wonder how I managed to finally get the cat of my dreams. She's friendly, devoted, sweet, intelligent, tolerant, loving, cuddly and gorgeous, and her missing tail just makes her distinctive enough to never get lost in a crowd (as well as protecting her from pet thieves). I complain about her a lot, but I love her desperately.
9. Writing. There's this moment where everything is going exactly right, where the words are going onto the paper so fast they're tumbling over each other like anxious puppies, where I'm making a story exist out of nothing but the weird flotsam and jetsam bobbing around in my head, and that's possibly the single most perfect moment in my life. I live for that moment. Sad but true.
8. Diet Dr Pepper. Why do I drink so much of the stuff? Because it makes me happy, that's why. It's true. The taste of it makes me feel better; even the caffeine-free variety has enough of that Diet Dr Pepper taste to make me feel like the world is going to be all right. When I'm really miserable, I want a Diet Dr Pepper, because it tastes like things working the right way.
7. Calling my friends. I'm terrible at ending conversations. Once I'm done with being on the phone, I pretty much go straight to 'okay, bye-bye now' and wanting to hang up. But that moment where someone picks up the phone, where I've just made a connection across however many miles and suddenly there's somebody I can talk to about whatever random thing I've decided that they need to know? That's magic.
6. New comic book day. The nice thing about new comic book day is the way it brings me a hundred different stories from a hundred different sources, and they're all different, and they're all amazing. What's it going to be today? Superheroes? Comic book noir? Magical realism? Maybe just a collection of the Marvel classics from my childhood? It doesn't matter, because it's my once-a-week Christmas, and it's perfect.
5. Pumpkins. It's silly but it's true: all I have to do is see a pumpkin and I'm suddenly a happier person. I have a mug from Starbucks that's shaped like a happy pumpkin, and I swear it lowers my blood pressure. There's something about the shape of them that just triggers a happy sort of 'yeah, okay, the universe may continue to be' deep inside my psyche. Maybe I was a jack-o-lantern in a prior life.
4. Movie trailers. There's so much potential in a good trailer. Is it going to be a good movie? Is it going to be a bad movie? Let's find out! I may have hated the third Resident Evil movie, but that doesn't take away from the raw, elemental joy I felt when I first saw the trailers for it. It's true, unadulterated bliss, and that's a wonderful thing to find.
3. Seeing people I adore log onto IM. I live by IM. I sometimes die by IM. I sometimes want to murder IM with a fork, usually when I'm trying to finish a chapter and half the world has just logged on and wants to tell me about their cats. But the level of connection it allows me to maintain with the people who matter to me is a genuine blessing, and I am thankful for it every day.
2. Having someone whose work I respect tell me that they like one of my songs. I've recorded songs solely based on the reaction from one person. I've cried because one person whose opinion really matters has said 'yeah, you did good.' As for 'who really matters'...it's different from song to song. Having the people who 'Wicked Girls' was written for say 'yes, that's right' was what mattered. It's like that for every song.
1. Drawing comic strips. This might more properly be just 'drawing', but right now, I'm mostly drawing comic strips, and honestly, the sequential format has charmed me. I need to do more 'proper' art -- I'm feeling somewhat rusty, and that's never good -- but the whole process of seeing real pictures rise out of sketchy pencil lines is like magic to me.
What makes you happy?
9. Writing. There's this moment where everything is going exactly right, where the words are going onto the paper so fast they're tumbling over each other like anxious puppies, where I'm making a story exist out of nothing but the weird flotsam and jetsam bobbing around in my head, and that's possibly the single most perfect moment in my life. I live for that moment. Sad but true.
8. Diet Dr Pepper. Why do I drink so much of the stuff? Because it makes me happy, that's why. It's true. The taste of it makes me feel better; even the caffeine-free variety has enough of that Diet Dr Pepper taste to make me feel like the world is going to be all right. When I'm really miserable, I want a Diet Dr Pepper, because it tastes like things working the right way.
7. Calling my friends. I'm terrible at ending conversations. Once I'm done with being on the phone, I pretty much go straight to 'okay, bye-bye now' and wanting to hang up. But that moment where someone picks up the phone, where I've just made a connection across however many miles and suddenly there's somebody I can talk to about whatever random thing I've decided that they need to know? That's magic.
6. New comic book day. The nice thing about new comic book day is the way it brings me a hundred different stories from a hundred different sources, and they're all different, and they're all amazing. What's it going to be today? Superheroes? Comic book noir? Magical realism? Maybe just a collection of the Marvel classics from my childhood? It doesn't matter, because it's my once-a-week Christmas, and it's perfect.
5. Pumpkins. It's silly but it's true: all I have to do is see a pumpkin and I'm suddenly a happier person. I have a mug from Starbucks that's shaped like a happy pumpkin, and I swear it lowers my blood pressure. There's something about the shape of them that just triggers a happy sort of 'yeah, okay, the universe may continue to be' deep inside my psyche. Maybe I was a jack-o-lantern in a prior life.
4. Movie trailers. There's so much potential in a good trailer. Is it going to be a good movie? Is it going to be a bad movie? Let's find out! I may have hated the third Resident Evil movie, but that doesn't take away from the raw, elemental joy I felt when I first saw the trailers for it. It's true, unadulterated bliss, and that's a wonderful thing to find.
3. Seeing people I adore log onto IM. I live by IM. I sometimes die by IM. I sometimes want to murder IM with a fork, usually when I'm trying to finish a chapter and half the world has just logged on and wants to tell me about their cats. But the level of connection it allows me to maintain with the people who matter to me is a genuine blessing, and I am thankful for it every day.
2. Having someone whose work I respect tell me that they like one of my songs. I've recorded songs solely based on the reaction from one person. I've cried because one person whose opinion really matters has said 'yeah, you did good.' As for 'who really matters'...it's different from song to song. Having the people who 'Wicked Girls' was written for say 'yes, that's right' was what mattered. It's like that for every song.
1. Drawing comic strips. This might more properly be just 'drawing', but right now, I'm mostly drawing comic strips, and honestly, the sequential format has charmed me. I need to do more 'proper' art -- I'm feeling somewhat rusty, and that's never good -- but the whole process of seeing real pictures rise out of sketchy pencil lines is like magic to me.
What makes you happy?